Key points:
Fifty percent of educators reported an increase in AI usage, by both students and teachers, over the 2023–24 school year, according to The 2024 Educator AI Report: Perceptions, Practices, and Potential, from Imagine Learning, a digital curriculum solutions provider.
The report offers insight into how teachers’ perceptions of AI use in the classroom have evolved since the start of the 2023–24 school year.
When specifically asked about generative AI tools, participants reported an 18 percent increase in use since first reported in September 2023. This rapid adoption highlights the significant role AI plays in today’s classrooms.
Despite these advancements, 33 percent of educators remain dissatisfied with the current level of AI implementation, citing insufficient training, exposure, and lack of clear policies or guidelines. Schools should continue to prioritize effective AI implementation to fully realize its potential to enhance educational outcomes.
“Imagine Learning is dedicated to solving real problems for educators by integrating AI to reduce teachers’ workloads, which will enable them to focus more on direct student engagement,” said Sari Factor, Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer of Imagine Learning. “Our commitment to creating collaboratively with our education partners ensures that AI tools are practical and supportive, ultimately enhancing learning outcomes and providing timely feedback to students.”
Other key findings from Imagine Learning’s report include:
- AI’s positive impact: 55 percent of participants agree that generative AI will have a positive impact in the classroom. Expectations for accessibility have also remained consistent, with 88 percent believing that generative AI can positively impact accessibility.
- Teacher resources: 84 percent view training sessions, which include practical applications and ethical use of AI, as the most valuable tool to support generative AI implementation. However, only 28 percent believe they have the resources they need to address potential implementation issues of generative AI–a drop from 33 percent in the fall.
- Popular generative AI use cases: Participants see generative AI being used most often for analyzing student data (68 percent), creating instructional material (67 percent), and grading (65 percent). Currently, teachers have the most experience using tools for language processing (38 percent) and automatic grading (38 percent).
- Top AI concerns: When compared to September 2023 results, participants expressed increased concern with cheating (84 percent versus 72 percent) and misinterpretation of results (69 percent versus 54 percent). Seventy-four percent are also worried about the potential negative impact on students’ writing abilities.
“The survey highlights how quickly AI is becoming a significant influence in today’s classrooms,” said Jason Fournier, vice president of Product Management for AI Initiatives at Imagine Learning. “By addressing these challenges, we aim to provide enriched educational opportunities to every student.”
This press release originally appeared online.